High blood pressure and problems with (pain in) lumbar or cervical spine are the most often chronic diseases in males and females in Czechia. Over a half of people aged 15+ years take prescription drugs. A third of the population is doing sports at least once a week. A fifth is smoking daily and a similar share of persons suffers from obesity. How do we know that? Because it was you who told us so!

Sample surveys on health have a long tradition in Czechia and have been carried out already since 1993; since 2008, they have been carried out pursuant to a unified European methodology. By means of these surveys, we obtain valuable information that cannot be found from other sources. These data help supplement commonly collected data on functioning of the health system and utilising of health care. Information obtained from our fellow citizens are therefore of extraordinary importance to us and we express our thanks for your willingness to answer our questions.
 

About the survey

The last time the EHIS was carried out in Czechia was in 2019, when almost 8 thousand respondents aged 15+ years participated in it. The questions focused not only on health status, but also on utilising health care (visits to physicians, hospitalisations) and on selected aspects of a life style closely related to health (consumption of fruits and vegetables, physical activity, or smoking). The Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic (IHIS CR) was the main coordinator of the survey; it carried out the survey in co-operation with the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO).
 

What do the results serve for?

The EHIS is a pan-European sample survey in households, which is carried out every 6 years. A unified European methodology, which is used, enables to compare the results with other EU Member States and thus to obtain an overview of health status of the Czech population in an international context. Found data serve as a basis for creation of both national and international political policies, for determination of main points and objectives of health programmes and, particularly, to monitor how they are complied with. They also help assess current and future burdens on the social and health system, when it is important to know the number of persons with reduced self-sufficiency in the population.
 

How does the survey take place?

Trained interviewers of the CZSO visited a selected household, went through a survey questionnaire with the household members and recorded their answers. Data collection in the framework of EHIS took place from July 2019 up to the end of December 2019. After the end of the data collection, the CZSO in co-operation with the IHIS CR processed answers of all participants en masse and is gradually publishing the results.  
 

Where can you find the survey results?

Selected data from the 2019 EHIS were published in articles in the Statistika&My journal (the title of the journal reads in English: Statistics & Us): 
Zpráva o zdraví a nemocech | Statistika&My (statistikaamy.cz) – Czech only (the title of the article reads in English: Report on health and diseases)
Zpráva o soběstačnosti seniorů | Statistika&My (statistikaamy.cz) – Czech only (the title of the article reads in English: Report on the self-sufficiency of senior citizens)
Během pandemie rostl zájem o rotopedy a běžecké pásy | Statistika&My (statistikaamy.cz) – Czech only (the title of the article reads in English: During the pandemic, the interest in stationary bicycles and treadmills was increasing)

Further information is available in the Statistical Yearbook - 2020:
https://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/statistical-yearbook-of-the-czech-republic-2020
 

Data confidentiality and protection

Information that interviewers get acquainted with during sample surveys in households is strictly anonymous. The CZSO fully respects the European legal framework for personal data protection (GDPR) and acts in compliance with it. Moreover, all employees of the CZSO are sworn to secrecy about all surveyed facts pursuant to the Act No 89/1995 Sb, on the State Statistical Service. No piece of information that would identify interviewed respondents enters the processing itself. Information from the survey is published solely in the form of statistical summaries.

Detailed information on personal data processing can be found at:
https://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/personal-data-protection-gdpr